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50 years ago, Boulder joined nation in mourning president's assassination

By Silvia Pettem For the Camera

Posted:
11/16/2013 11:00:00 AM MST

A horse-drawn caisson carries the body of President John F. Kennedy from the White House, background, to the Capitol on Sunday, Nov. 24, 1963.
(Associated Press file photo)

Fifty years ago this week, news of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas sent shock waves across the nation.

As in every other city in the nation, Boulder residents eulogized, mourned and remembered their 46-year-old national leader.

The Camera, of course, covered the community's reaction.

"His sudden, incredible death shattered for the time being the people's sense of partisanship," editorial writer James C. Corriell said. "They were not Democrats or Republicans or socialists or independents. They were Americans first, and they had lost their chief, the president of all the people."

The shots fired at Kennedy came on Friday, Nov. 22, 1963, at 11:30 a.m. MST, when many of Boulder's schoolchildren were eating lunch.

On Nov. 22, 1963, flags outside the Boulder Municipal Building are lowered to half-mast after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
(Daily Camera file photo)

Today, a majority of Americans age 55 or older remember exactly where they were when they first heard the news.

Those who were in school remember a voice coming over the public address system with the startling announcement that Kennedy had been shot. Elementary children on playgrounds and junior and senior high school students in cafeterias returned to their classrooms. Those in classes or study halls remained in their seats.

Teachers and students didn't know what to do. At least one teacher who had just given a math test collected his students' papers and then threw them into the trash. Another teacher stood by a window and cried.

A half-hour after the first announcement, the PA offered the news that the president was dead. Most students and teachers sat in stunned silence until it was time to go home. Flags were lowered to half-mast, and weekend activities were canceled or postponed.

The next morning, mourners packed Boulder's Sacred Heart of Jesus Church for high mass and to pay their respects. A Camera reporter noted that there were not many dry eyes among the families with children, uniformed servicemen and older couples in attendance. Other churches held similar memorial services.

Newly installed President Lyndon B. Johnson declared the following Monday a national day of mourning. Schools, businesses and even the courts were closed, giving children and their families the opportunity to turn on their black-and-white televisions to watch Kennedy's funeral in Washington, D.C.

When the funeral started, at 10 a.m. MST, church bells all over Boulder rang for three minutes. That afternoon in Macky Auditorium, the University Festival Chorus and Orchestra at the University of Colorado gave a special performance of Cherubini's "Requiem in C Minor."

Crime in Boulder, at the time, was practically nonexistent. But, within hours of the assassination, Boulder City Manager Robert Turner ordered the closing of all bars, even though 3.2 percent beer was the only alcoholic beverage legally sold within Boulder city limits. Boulder Police Chief Myron Teegarden put extra officers on duty.

As the Camera explained, the bars were closed "to guard against the eventuality of panicky reactions by extremists against extremists."

The only incident related to the assassination, however, were the arrests of two men who said they decided to have a few drinks because of their sorrow over Kennedy's death.

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